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Darnell Smith is the founder and CEO of MXXN, a non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused spirits brand that is evolving today’s cocktail culture and disrupting the alcohol and cannabis industry
A podcast to disrupt common narratives and constructs to empower diverse communities. We provide inspirational content from entrepreneurs and leaders who are disrupting the status quo.
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There is
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this romantic view of like
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pushing all the chips in and
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but very rarely does that equate long
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term success.
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I think you have to have some things
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in your favor
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before you fully exit stage left.
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If you want some
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some longevity in being an entrepreneur.
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Welcome to Disruption Now
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I'm your host
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and moderator, Rob Richardson.
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We're here today,
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of course, powered by Disrupt Art as always
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we love to bring the stories
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of entrepreneurs, particularly black
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and brown
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entrepreneurs, to tell you their story,
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their struggles, their paths
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and how they ultimately built
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what they have today.
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So with me
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is Darnell Smith
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with MXXN
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as well as Mojo Ventures?
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I believe. So
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he's a serial entrepreneur,
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an expert in marketing.
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And now he's
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combining this
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unique thing of it's a nonalcoholic, but
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cannabis infused spirit,
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which I've never had.
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It sounds very interesting.
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We're going to talk
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more about his product,
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how he got into that.
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And but for now, Darnell,
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how are you doing, man? Great.
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Thanks for having me.
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Thank you for being on.
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What is before
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we get down this rabbit hole of
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cannabis infused cocktail,
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which is new to me, like I said
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but I'm up for adventure.
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What is your story
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in terms of entrepreneurship?
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Tell us how you got to be
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in this crazy world of entrepreneurship.
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Yes.
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So I spent the early part of my career
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going from agency side to client
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side to
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management consulting
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and kind of near the tail end.
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And my first run with management consulting,
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I decided that some of this
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knowledge and
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and things that we were given the clients
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I probably could do on my own.
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And so,
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you know, back in 2013
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or so decided
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to venture out
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and the rest is kind of history,
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you know, founded
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Mojo and work
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with a lot of blue chip clients.
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And from there, you know,
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we always had a plan
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to have a ventures arm.
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And that's where really
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the serial entrepreneurship
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really took off
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and we started investing
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in certain brands and so on.
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Okay, so walk me through
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like taking that taking that leap
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because, you know, it's like it's is a
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it's a hell of a leap to take.
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Did you have
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I'm sure there was a time
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where you were like a
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you were still there in a company.
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But figuring out the plan of
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of escape,
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depending on how people talk about
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it, it's escape and it could be
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a trap, all on its own too
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but anyway, that's neither
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here nor there.
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I digress.
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How did you
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did you have a
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you have a couple of signature
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clients lined up already
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or did you just take that leap
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and just knew it was going to come?
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Yeah. No, I mean, you hit it.
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The Golden handcuffs are real,
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you know, especially for,
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you know, black male in America making,
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you know, high six figures.
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Like when you tell someone,
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I'm leaving this, you get some, you know,
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deer in the headlights look like,
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you know, what are you doing
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from the outside?
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It looks like you have it made right?
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You know, obviously, I was very
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litigious and very, you know, planned
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in how I made my exit
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so I wasn't going to do it.
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You know,
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I was
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at an age in my life where I couldn't do
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it, kind of like the broke guy doing it right.
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So I had to, which I.
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Believe is a myth, by the way.
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Darnell Like it's
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something that I don't
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I don't mean to interrupt you,
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but I think it's a really important
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point is a it's mostly a myth
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that people go out here and,
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oh, it's the 22 year old.
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He goes out, living on his couch
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having no money or the person
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to say, I'm going to risk all of it
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put all my money up.
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Most people I know that have made it.
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And then if you go to Google,
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if you go to Warby Parker
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and I'm sure there's a whole bunch
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of other cases,
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case after case of case Tesla,
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all those people
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I've seen one or two situations.
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There are exceptions
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to fit that narrative or stereotype.
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People love like, oh,
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the man or woman
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who's just found their way
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out of nothing.
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But generally speaking,
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like there's a path there.
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Either they have support from a spouse
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either they had
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either they had the ability to
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already have like a pretty good runway
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to know that, yes, I'm taking a risk.
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But it is a calculated risk
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because I get the different advice.
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Like, I don't think the good.
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I don't think it's a good
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like good advice,
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some people say, to go
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and burn everything down
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and then just say like, okay,
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no escape, I'm going forward.
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Like, I think that's idealistic way.
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I think in your mind
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you have to have that as a mindset
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that I don't I'm not going to lose.
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But I think in terms of
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doing something
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where you don't have any real
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revenue or
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no real runway,
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if you will,
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you're setting yourself up for failure.
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Because what I found through my adventures
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is that,
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you know, things never work out to the
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in the in the time
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path that we put forward.
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It's always longer.
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There's always things
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you don't anticipate.
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So you always want to have
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as much revenue as possible
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because things are not going to work out
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the way you expect. But go ahead. Yeah.
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And I couldn't agree more.
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And, you know,
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that kind of really encapsulates
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my path, right?
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I there were a few things
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that came together.
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I felt like I had crossed
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the threshold of experience
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that put me in another kind of echelon
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of what I was able to offer clients.
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I also was very, again, very litigious
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about how I stash money away.
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So I had a long enough runway
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to deal with the
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ups and
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downs and the
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unpredictability of entrepreneurship.
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And then I also made sure
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I had some marquee
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clients lined up before
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I actually pulled the ripcord.
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And so I had to your point,
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I think, you know,
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there is
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this romantic view of like
00:05:52:06 - 00:05:54:14
pushing all the chips in and
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but very rarely does that equate long
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term success.
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I think you have to have some things
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in your favor
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before you fully exit stage left.
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If you want some
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some longevity in being an entrepreneur.
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Yeah.
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So looking back,
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do you feel like there were some
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something you would do differently?
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Or put another way,
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if you had to go back
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and talk to your younger self in 2014,
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what advice would you give
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your younger entrepreneurial self then
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and what advice would you ignore?
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I think the advice I would
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give is patience, right?
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You have to plan.
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You can't just
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you know,
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I wanted to do this
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since mid to late twenties,
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but it took me until my, you know,
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almost forties
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to be able to execute it. Right.
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I had to get the proper knowledge.
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I had to go through some things.
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I had to have some ups and downs
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in my career.
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I had to stash away money.
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So, you know,
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I would have told my younger self, like,
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I know you want it to happen right
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now, but
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be patient
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and then,
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you know what I'm glad I didn't listen to
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is that, you know, that
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I call it the golden handcuff mentality.
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It's like,
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you know, once you get somewhere,
00:07:04:11 - 00:07:05:16
people will say
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you shouldn't,
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you know, how could you ever. Be exactly.
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How could you ever
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turn your back on that?
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And I think,
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you know,
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I'm glad I didn't
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listen to that pressure in my life
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to stay,
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you know, kind of that corporate path.
00:07:19:00 - 00:07:19:20
I mean,
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I always knew I could go back to it
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if I needed to.
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I had already accomplished that.
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So, you know, now
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it's more about preparing
00:07:27:06 - 00:07:28:23
myself for the next step. So
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you and I are
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I'm not going to call you old
00:07:32:10 - 00:07:34:13
you and I are seasoned enough
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to have known this movie.
00:07:35:18 - 00:07:36:11
But did you remember
00:07:36:11 - 00:07:37:12
did you ever see the movie
00:07:37:12 - 00:07:39:05
with Tom Cruise, The Firm?
00:07:39:05 - 00:07:40:10
Oh, yes. You see that?
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Yeah, right.
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It is the background.
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Just so
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for our listeners
00:07:43:04 - 00:07:44:15
who may not be as seasoned
00:07:44:15 - 00:07:46:05
as both of you and I are, right.
00:07:46:05 - 00:07:47:18
The background was
00:07:47:18 - 00:07:49:10
this this young hotshot
00:07:49:10 - 00:07:51:05
get out of college, Tom Cruise, right?
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He comes
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and he gets to work for this firm.
00:07:53:09 - 00:07:55:10
And it's just seemed like the dream.
00:07:55:17 - 00:07:57:09
And they told a lie
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and then they tell him later on
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he starts to be with the FBI.
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He said, Nope,
00:08:01:07 - 00:08:02:17
this is actually backed by the mob.
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It's so much worse.
00:08:03:07 - 00:08:04:06
than you think because at first
00:08:04:06 - 00:08:05:10
they get you used to the good life,
00:08:05:10 - 00:08:06:20
get your kids a good school
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and then they tell you the truth. Right?
00:08:09:11 - 00:08:10:13
That's what I would
00:08:10:13 - 00:08:11:08
I would equate that
00:08:11:08 - 00:08:13:07
to a lot of corporate life
00:08:13:07 - 00:08:16:06
like it's like it's for some people.
00:08:16:20 - 00:08:17:24
But generally what happens
00:08:17:24 - 00:08:19:02
is they get you to something.
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And if they if you get
00:08:20:18 - 00:08:22:07
if you make these high six
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figures, there's a lot
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that's extracted out of you.
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That is,
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you're not going to
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you're not going to just come away
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and just have a lot of free time,
00:08:32:20 - 00:08:34:04
have a lot of autonomy,
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if you will, fit within a system.
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And you have to deal
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with what I think
00:08:37:17 - 00:08:39:07
a lot of us don't like is the is the
00:08:39:07 - 00:08:40:15
is the corporate politics. Right.
00:08:40:15 - 00:08:41:24
The corporate politics,
00:08:41:24 - 00:08:42:19
you know, it's not it's
00:08:43:05 - 00:08:43:13
it's not
00:08:43:13 - 00:08:45:19
not about how great your product is.
00:08:45:19 - 00:08:48:05
It's also about how great your mind is.
00:08:48:05 - 00:08:49:03
It's really about
00:08:49:03 - 00:08:50:24
how much Bob likes you up the hall,
00:08:50:24 - 00:08:52:21
how much Susan likes you up the hall,
00:08:52:21 - 00:08:54:16
how much Carole likes you up the hall.
00:08:54:16 - 00:08:55:13
And if they don't like you,
00:08:55:13 - 00:08:56:19
they can sabotage your career.
00:08:56:19 - 00:08:58:13
And will do so, right?
00:08:58:13 - 00:09:00:03
I mean, it's just and those.
00:09:00:03 - 00:09:02:02
And not think twice about it. Oh, yeah.
00:09:02:02 - 00:09:03:21
And not think twice about it. Right.
00:09:03:21 - 00:09:06:05
That's just the reality of it.
00:09:06:05 - 00:09:07:12
So was there a moment
00:09:07:12 - 00:09:08:20
like was there a moment?
00:09:08:20 - 00:09:10:10
You don't have to give any details
00:09:10:10 - 00:09:12:04
unless you want to, you know, we don't mind
00:09:12:04 - 00:09:13:16
that really made you say?
00:09:13:16 - 00:09:15:11
Like, I have to take this leap,
00:09:15:11 - 00:09:17:16
I have to do this, or I'm going to,
00:09:17:16 - 00:09:17:22
you know,
00:09:17:22 - 00:09:19:10
look back in my rocking chair and say,
00:09:19:10 - 00:09:20:13
I should have taken the leap,
00:09:20:13 - 00:09:24:06
I should have taken this opportunity.
00:09:24:06 - 00:09:26:24
I think it wasn't like a negative moment.
00:09:26:24 - 00:09:28:14
It was a very positive moment
00:09:28:14 - 00:09:31:03
in which one of my largest, most
00:09:31:03 - 00:09:32:14
trusted clients
00:09:32:14 - 00:09:34:07
at the time pulled me aside
00:09:34:07 - 00:09:35:11
and was like,
00:09:35:11 - 00:09:37:01
Hey, man, I think you,
00:09:37:01 - 00:09:39:04
you know, underplaying your cards
00:09:39:04 - 00:09:40:12
by being in this situation.
00:09:40:12 - 00:09:42:14
I think you have a lot more to offer.
00:09:42:14 - 00:09:43:19
And, you know,
00:09:43:19 - 00:09:45:09
if there's any way I can support you
00:09:45:09 - 00:09:47:20
in making that leap, you let me know.
00:09:47:21 - 00:09:49:03
And that's where he left it.
00:09:49:03 - 00:09:51:15
And that that to me was enough
00:09:51:15 - 00:09:54:01
of a nudge to have, you know, some
00:09:54:17 - 00:09:56:16
somebody else see it when I was kind of,
00:09:57:15 - 00:09:58:05
you know,
00:09:58:05 - 00:10:00:09
oscillating back and forth, like,
00:10:00:09 - 00:10:01:22
am I going to fall for that,
00:10:01:22 - 00:10:02:09
you know,
00:10:02:09 - 00:10:03:16
staying safe
00:10:03:16 - 00:10:05:00
or am I going to really do it?
00:10:05:00 - 00:10:07:00
And I think that conversation was like
00:10:07:00 - 00:10:07:16
the moment
00:10:07:16 - 00:10:09:09
where the light bulb clicked for me.
00:10:09:09 - 00:10:11:14
Like, No, that's right.
00:10:12:05 - 00:10:13:04
That's what I believe
00:10:13:04 - 00:10:14:07
and that's what I'm going to follow.
00:10:14:07 - 00:10:15:01
So, you know,
00:10:15:01 - 00:10:16:00
it wasn't like
00:10:16:00 - 00:10:17:14
someone did me dirty or,
00:10:17:14 - 00:10:19:19
you know, I had a bad experience.
00:10:19:21 - 00:10:22:16
Like, you know, I had a relatively
00:10:22:16 - 00:10:24:18
I was often the only person of color
00:10:24:18 - 00:10:26:17
in some very high ranking meeting.
00:10:26:17 - 00:10:27:03
So, you know,
00:10:27:03 - 00:10:28:12
I had kind of
00:10:28:12 - 00:10:29:16
the Karen's up the hall
00:10:29:16 - 00:10:31:06
and the Bobs up the hall. They have.
00:10:31:06 - 00:10:32:06
But everybody's got the Karens
00:10:32:06 - 00:10:33:08
the Bobs
00:10:33:08 - 00:10:36:14
Just part of the process.
00:10:36:14 - 00:10:38:16
So, you know,
00:10:38:16 - 00:10:40:02
I didn't have a bad experience
00:10:40:02 - 00:10:41:03
in that in that way.
00:10:41:03 - 00:10:42:11
You know, for the most part, you know,
00:10:42:11 - 00:10:44:12
especially once I establish
00:10:44:15 - 00:10:47:00
a certain level of my career.
00:10:47:00 - 00:10:48:21
But that client kind of giving me
00:10:48:21 - 00:10:50:21
that nudge was really that
00:10:50:21 - 00:10:52:19
that moment when I said, okay,
00:10:52:19 - 00:10:53:21
this is happening.
00:10:53:21 - 00:10:56:00
Right, right.
00:10:56:00 - 00:10:58:16
So, I mean, your story and so many others
00:10:59:06 - 00:11:02:01
really reinforces the true narrative.
00:11:02:06 - 00:11:03:23
of how lots of people come to entrepreneurship.
00:11:03:23 - 00:11:05:17
They actually get it through
00:11:05:17 - 00:11:07:16
real experience.
00:11:07:16 - 00:11:09:00
Corporations sometimes
00:11:09:00 - 00:11:10:09
I know people have this
00:11:10:09 - 00:11:12:04
there is this mindset
00:11:12:04 - 00:11:13:19
that if you were in corporate,
00:11:13:19 - 00:11:14:18
you know, you're rigid,
00:11:14:18 - 00:11:17:03
you can't think outside of it.
00:11:17:03 - 00:11:17:17
You can't
00:11:17:17 - 00:11:18:20
you can't become an entrepreneur
00:11:18:20 - 00:11:19:04
that way.
00:11:19:04 - 00:11:20:20
But the truth is
00:11:20:21 - 00:11:21:08
most of
00:11:21:08 - 00:11:21:21
the path
00:11:21:21 - 00:11:22:13
is usually through
00:11:22:13 - 00:11:24:10
some opportunity in those areas.
00:11:24:10 - 00:11:25:04
And it sounds like
00:11:25:04 - 00:11:25:14
not only
00:11:25:14 - 00:11:26:21
that you got a chance
00:11:26:21 - 00:11:28:02
to branch out with some of the clients
00:11:28:02 - 00:11:30:04
that you worked with while you were at
00:11:30:20 - 00:11:33:19
whatever agency or whatever corporation.
00:11:34:01 - 00:11:34:19
And so to me, it's
00:11:34:19 - 00:11:36:17
just that a testament to do
00:11:36:17 - 00:11:37:14
everything you can
00:11:37:14 - 00:11:40:00
to the greatest ability, let your work,
00:11:40:16 - 00:11:41:24
speak through your work, you know,
00:11:41:24 - 00:11:43:03
and then that
00:11:43:03 - 00:11:44:14
and building relationships,
00:11:44:14 - 00:11:45:12
building through your work
00:11:45:12 - 00:11:46:19
is how you really have great impact.
00:11:46:19 - 00:11:48:03
So let's talk about MXXN
00:11:48:03 - 00:11:49:06
Let's talk about this project.
00:11:49:06 - 00:11:51:22
which is combining
00:11:51:22 - 00:11:54:01
nonalcoholic drink with
00:11:55:00 - 00:11:56:00
cannabis
00:11:56:00 - 00:11:58:10
to create this new type of cocktail.
00:11:58:10 - 00:12:00:01
Tell me how you got into this world
00:12:00:01 - 00:12:00:13
a little bit
00:12:00:13 - 00:12:01:09
in terms of cannabis
00:12:01:09 - 00:12:02:07
then I want to talk more
00:12:02:07 - 00:12:04:02
about what this cocktail is
00:12:04:02 - 00:12:04:23
and how we can,
00:12:04:23 - 00:12:06:13
I guess, actually get a chance to
00:12:06:13 - 00:12:08:00
to taste this cocktail.
00:12:08:00 - 00:12:08:23
Sounds pretty interesting.
00:12:08:23 - 00:12:09:17
Yeah. Yes.
00:12:09:17 - 00:12:11:01
So a large
00:12:11:01 - 00:12:12:14
a large portion of my career
00:12:12:14 - 00:12:13:03
is spent
00:12:13:03 - 00:12:14:23
in beverage innovation
00:12:14:23 - 00:12:17:02
and commercialization, right.
00:12:17:02 - 00:12:19:09
From the agency side to client side.
00:12:19:09 - 00:12:20:14
I've worked with,
00:12:20:14 - 00:12:23:06
you know, the behemoths at Diageo,
00:12:23:07 - 00:12:26:10
Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, and done
00:12:26:17 - 00:12:27:19
trademark innovation
00:12:27:19 - 00:12:29:02
and commercialization,
00:12:29:02 - 00:12:31:12
you know, for a big part of my career.
00:12:32:07 - 00:12:34:02
And so during that time,
00:12:34:02 - 00:12:36:16
just paying attention to trends and data
00:12:37:02 - 00:12:39:24
and also learning the ropes of,
00:12:40:09 - 00:12:41:15
you know, for me,
00:12:41:15 - 00:12:43:18
bringing something to market from liquid
00:12:43:18 - 00:12:44:10
all the way, you know,
00:12:44:10 - 00:12:45:20
from concept and liquid
00:12:45:20 - 00:12:47:12
all the way to, you know,
00:12:47:12 - 00:12:47:23
the plan
00:12:47:23 - 00:12:49:09
that's going to roll this out to marketing
00:12:49:09 - 00:12:52:18
and make it stand out among the other 37
00:12:52:18 - 00:12:55:09
million vodkas or 37 million Tequilas
00:12:55:10 - 00:12:56:17
that are already out there right.
00:12:56:17 - 00:12:57:01
You know,
00:12:57:01 - 00:12:58:23
you learn some things during that process
00:12:58:23 - 00:13:00:10
and they have a way that they do it,
00:13:00:10 - 00:13:02:20
which is, you know, very well documented.
00:13:02:20 - 00:13:04:05
And they you know, they're very
00:13:05:21 - 00:13:07:01
they they very they
00:13:07:01 - 00:13:08:04
focus on a very hard
00:13:08:04 - 00:13:08:12
in terms
00:13:08:12 - 00:13:10:05
of how to commercialize new things.
00:13:10:05 - 00:13:10:12
Okay.
00:13:10:12 - 00:13:12:22
So, you know, for me,
00:13:12:22 - 00:13:16:13
once I went through that, you know,
00:13:16:13 - 00:13:17:05
what I will tell
00:13:17:05 - 00:13:18:16
you is being in the spirits industry
00:13:18:16 - 00:13:20:08
for some time,
00:13:20:08 - 00:13:22:03
you either go one or two ways, right?
00:13:22:03 - 00:13:23:11
Either you can handle it
00:13:23:11 - 00:13:26:20
or your liver is basically like no more.
00:13:27:07 - 00:13:29:01
And I think for me,
00:13:29:01 - 00:13:31:06
I got to a point where, you know,
00:13:32:06 - 00:13:34:18
from a physical standpoint, me
00:13:34:18 - 00:13:36:04
and alcohol
00:13:36:04 - 00:13:38:07
over the time just continue to agree
00:13:38:08 - 00:13:40:09
less and less. Right, right, right.
00:13:40:10 - 00:13:42:19
It would throw me off my game and like,
00:13:43:07 - 00:13:45:05
you know, as a black male,
00:13:45:05 - 00:13:47:12
you got to be twice as good, right,
00:13:47:14 - 00:13:49:15
to get the same, same accolades.
00:13:49:15 - 00:13:51:08
So I couldn't for me, I couldn't
00:13:52:09 - 00:13:54:05
approach my career in a manner in which
00:13:54:05 - 00:13:55:09
that was a big part of it.
00:13:55:09 - 00:13:57:02
So back
00:13:57:02 - 00:13:58:01
15 years ago,
00:13:58:01 - 00:13:59:09
when I was living in New York City,
00:13:59:09 - 00:14:01:07
I started making a tincture, right?
00:14:01:07 - 00:14:03:15
And a tincture is really simple.
00:14:03:15 - 00:14:06:07
I would, you know, heat up some flowers
00:14:06:07 - 00:14:08:13
and cannabis to a very specific temperature
00:14:08:23 - 00:14:10:13
for a very specific time.
00:14:10:13 - 00:14:12:04
And then I would
00:14:12:04 - 00:14:15:07
soak it in like some high proof alcohol
00:14:15:10 - 00:14:16:24
and I would strain it
00:14:16:24 - 00:14:18:02
like a month later
00:14:18:02 - 00:14:20:02
and it'd be a little dropper bottle
00:14:20:02 - 00:14:21:10
and I'd be the guy at the bar
00:14:21:10 - 00:14:22:01
that be like, Hey,
00:14:22:01 - 00:14:24:00
can I have a tonic and lime in?
00:14:24:00 - 00:14:24:20
And I turn around
00:14:24:20 - 00:14:26:05
and I put three little drops
00:14:26:05 - 00:14:28:01
of my tincture in the tonic and lime,
00:14:28:01 - 00:14:30:01
and I would be sessioning cocktails
00:14:30:13 - 00:14:31:20
right along with everyone else.
00:14:31:20 - 00:14:32:16
But no one knew
00:14:32:16 - 00:14:34:06
what was in my glass, right?
00:14:34:06 - 00:14:35:01
That's smart. That's that.
00:14:35:01 - 00:14:36:16
Lyndon Johnson used to do that
00:14:36:16 - 00:14:37:18
Let other people drink.
00:14:37:18 - 00:14:39:04
It was like, have a drink.
00:14:39:04 - 00:14:40:01
You learn more information
00:14:40:01 - 00:14:41:11
that way, you know, very shrewd of you.
00:14:41:11 - 00:14:42:09
Go ahead. Yeah.
00:14:42:09 - 00:14:45:01
And so that was 15 years ago.
00:14:45:01 - 00:14:45:14
And that, you know,
00:14:45:14 - 00:14:46:03
that was like
00:14:46:03 - 00:14:49:08
kind of the first idea of MXXN it was like
00:14:50:02 - 00:14:52:20
what's now become this alternative
00:14:52:20 - 00:14:54:01
alcohol movement?
00:14:54:01 - 00:14:55:14
Right you had
00:14:55:14 - 00:14:58:07
a ton of nonalcoholic spirits brands.
00:14:58:07 - 00:14:58:20
You know,
00:14:58:20 - 00:15:00:07
I won't name them all, but, you know,
00:15:00:07 - 00:15:01:18
they're out there
00:15:01:19 - 00:15:04:11
and you have the rise of cannabis
00:15:04:12 - 00:15:05:10
infused beverages.
00:15:05:10 - 00:15:06:15
And so,
00:15:06:19 - 00:15:07:19
you know, for me,
00:15:07:19 - 00:15:09:01
I kind of took this data
00:15:09:01 - 00:15:10:00
of watching people
00:15:10:00 - 00:15:11:03
be more mindful
00:15:11:03 - 00:15:14:00
about how they consume alcohol. Right.
00:15:14:00 - 00:15:16:03
And really reducing consumption
00:15:16:03 - 00:15:18:15
or changing the way they consume.
00:15:18:22 - 00:15:20:11
And then also looking at the rise
00:15:20:11 - 00:15:21:16
of this new technology
00:15:21:16 - 00:15:24:00
that was giving us, you know,
00:15:24:03 - 00:15:24:20
the Heineken
00:15:24:20 - 00:15:28:21
0.0 and, you know, the OG O'Douls
00:15:28:21 - 00:15:29:03
Right.
00:15:29:03 - 00:15:31:06
And things have just spawned from there.
00:15:31:06 - 00:15:32:08
And so I said to myself,
00:15:32:08 - 00:15:34:24
what if I kind of took these two things
00:15:34:24 - 00:15:36:08
and made a new monster?
00:15:36:08 - 00:15:38:15
And that's where MXXN came from.
00:15:38:18 - 00:15:42:14
And so it took three years to perfect
00:15:42:21 - 00:15:46:16
how to infuse a non aholic spirit
00:15:46:16 - 00:15:48:20
with cannabis and not have it taste
00:15:48:20 - 00:15:49:22
like cannabis.
00:15:49:22 - 00:15:51:08
Because right for us
00:15:51:08 - 00:15:52:16
we're going for
00:15:52:16 - 00:15:54:00
the taste of cocktails, right?
00:15:54:00 - 00:15:55:19
So we want it to taste
00:15:55:19 - 00:15:57:00
like a gin and tonic
00:15:57:00 - 00:15:59:21
or a margarita or Paloma or what you
00:16:00:00 - 00:16:01:14
what you're already familiar with.
00:16:01:14 - 00:16:02:23
We didn't want to drown that out
00:16:02:23 - 00:16:05:08
with cannabis taste and so that
00:16:05:08 - 00:16:05:22
I bet the process
00:16:05:22 - 00:16:07:18
is intense to figure that out.
00:16:07:18 - 00:16:09:01
I can't tell you
00:16:09:01 - 00:16:11:23
how many nos and thumbs down I got.
00:16:11:23 - 00:16:14:04
We had a panel of mixologists and,
00:16:15:01 - 00:16:17:16
you know, sensory experts and
00:16:17:16 - 00:16:19:14
even myself, I was very exacting.
00:16:19:14 - 00:16:21:09
And I mean, we got to so many
00:16:21:09 - 00:16:23:13
I mean, I couldn't tell you what version
00:16:23:13 - 00:16:25:11
we were on by the time we landed it.
00:16:25:11 - 00:16:27:23
And it was yeah, it was a very exacting
00:16:29:09 - 00:16:30:22
process, but it was worth it.
00:16:30:22 - 00:16:31:17
Because I think we
00:16:31:17 - 00:16:33:01
we truly came up with something
00:16:33:01 - 00:16:35:14
that is very rarely do you see something
00:16:35:21 - 00:16:37:15
come along in beverage innovation
00:16:37:15 - 00:16:39:20
that is truly like, oh, wait, what?
00:16:39:20 - 00:16:41:13
And I mean, it was new to me.
00:16:41:13 - 00:16:42:12
I had to read it twice.
00:16:42:12 - 00:16:43:03
It's like, all right.
00:16:43:03 - 00:16:45:08
No, it's definitely it is innovative
00:16:47:08 - 00:16:49:04
and I think it will be possible to do.
00:16:49:04 - 00:16:49:13
Yeah.
00:16:49:13 - 00:16:49:24
I mean, look,
00:16:49:24 - 00:16:50:24
the feedback we've gotten
00:16:50:24 - 00:16:52:17
so far has been overwhelming
00:16:52:17 - 00:16:54:01
to the point where,
00:16:54:01 - 00:16:54:08
you know,
00:16:54:08 - 00:16:56:12
it's a very simple conversation.
00:16:56:12 - 00:16:57:10
It's like
00:16:57:10 - 00:16:59:09
typically someone who comes to us
00:16:59:09 - 00:17:00:03
is like,
00:17:00:03 - 00:17:01:09
man, I like,
00:17:01:09 - 00:17:01:18
I don't
00:17:01:18 - 00:17:02:20
I love cocktails,
00:17:02:20 - 00:17:04:01
but I can't like
00:17:04:01 - 00:17:05:09
I'm just in a life phase
00:17:05:09 - 00:17:07:22
that I can't drink like that anymore.
00:17:07:22 - 00:17:09:05
And so that's
00:17:09:05 - 00:17:10:03
what they call a can,
00:17:10:03 - 00:17:11:12
a curious consumer
00:17:11:12 - 00:17:14:09
and someone who still needs the release.
00:17:14:09 - 00:17:16:00
But does it want
00:17:16:00 - 00:17:16:18
let's be honest,
00:17:16:18 - 00:17:19:23
alcohol is ultimately poison when you.
00:17:20:02 - 00:17:21:07
Literally yeah, right.
00:17:21:07 - 00:17:21:22
Literally.
00:17:21:22 - 00:17:23:12
So, you know,
00:17:23:12 - 00:17:24:04
when you get people
00:17:24:04 - 00:17:25:22
coming to you in that manner
00:17:25:22 - 00:17:26:08
and they're like,
00:17:26:08 - 00:17:28:17
okay, so I'm interested in cannabis,
00:17:28:17 - 00:17:31:08
but I have no idea on where to start.
00:17:31:21 - 00:17:34:11
And for us it's a very simple exchange.
00:17:34:11 - 00:17:35:20
Are you familiar with Gin?
00:17:35:20 - 00:17:37:05
Are you familiar with tequila?
00:17:37:05 - 00:17:39:05
Are you familiar with whiskey?
00:17:39:05 - 00:17:39:24
Okay, great.
00:17:39:24 - 00:17:40:24
If you are
00:17:40:24 - 00:17:42:04
and you have a favorite of those,
00:17:42:04 - 00:17:43:06
I have a bottle of something
00:17:43:06 - 00:17:45:10
that you can replace that bottle
00:17:45:10 - 00:17:46:21
and do exactly the same
00:17:46:21 - 00:17:48:10
things you've been doing
00:17:48:10 - 00:17:50:04
and have a cannabis infused
00:17:50:04 - 00:17:52:09
cocktail versus an alcohol
00:17:52:09 - 00:17:53:09
infused cocktail.
00:17:53:09 - 00:17:56:02
And you will have a taste and experience
00:17:56:14 - 00:17:57:15
and feel from it.
00:17:57:15 - 00:17:59:05
And people are like, No way.
00:17:59:05 - 00:18:00:09
And then two weeks later
00:18:00:09 - 00:18:02:03
they'll call us back and be like, Holy.
00:18:02:03 - 00:18:05:05
You know what?
00:18:05:05 - 00:18:07:19
Now that's wow.
00:18:07:19 - 00:18:08:19
That's really,
00:18:08:19 - 00:18:10:19
really innovative is the word.
00:18:10:19 - 00:18:11:20
I want to go back to a point
00:18:11:20 - 00:18:12:12
you said earlier
00:18:12:12 - 00:18:14:19
about the exacting process with marketing
00:18:14:19 - 00:18:16:09
when it comes to spirits,
00:18:16:09 - 00:18:17:18
and then I want to talk to you.
00:18:17:18 - 00:18:18:17
And then the second
00:18:18:17 - 00:18:19:17
thing I want to talk to you about
00:18:19:17 - 00:18:22:10
is the challenges about how you do this
00:18:22:11 - 00:18:23:22
being the fact that it is cannabis.
00:18:23:22 - 00:18:24:21
And although it's
00:18:24:21 - 00:18:26:04
legal, it's still,
00:18:26:04 - 00:18:26:16
you know,
00:18:26:16 - 00:18:27:04
cannabis
00:18:27:04 - 00:18:27:19
and it's still got
00:18:27:19 - 00:18:28:18
the federal challenges.
00:18:28:18 - 00:18:30:01
And state by state,
00:18:30:01 - 00:18:30:22
I wanted to talk to you
00:18:30:22 - 00:18:31:21
about how you're navigating
00:18:31:21 - 00:18:32:22
both of those things.
00:18:32:22 - 00:18:34:02
How you navigating that,
00:18:34:02 - 00:18:34:24
both of those things on that end
00:18:34:24 - 00:18:36:08
And when it comes just the regulatory
00:18:36:08 - 00:18:37:05
structure, both federal
00:18:37:05 - 00:18:38:06
and state by state.
00:18:38:06 - 00:18:40:00
But let's go back to the marketing part.
00:18:40:00 - 00:18:40:21
What is
00:18:41:08 - 00:18:43:01
what's the most important thing
00:18:43:01 - 00:18:43:11
or the most?
00:18:43:11 - 00:18:43:17
Let's say
00:18:43:17 - 00:18:45:09
the most two or three important things
00:18:45:09 - 00:18:46:19
that needs to be done
00:18:46:19 - 00:18:48:07
to effectively market
00:18:48:07 - 00:18:49:06
a spirit
00:18:49:06 - 00:18:50:01
that will increase
00:18:50:01 - 00:18:51:13
your chances of success.
00:18:51:13 - 00:18:51:21
Yeah.
00:18:51:21 - 00:18:52:23
I mean, first is
00:18:52:23 - 00:18:54:16
you got to have a brand story
00:18:54:16 - 00:18:58:02
and you got to have some of the authentic
00:18:58:24 - 00:19:00:22
pieces of that story, like
00:19:00:22 - 00:19:03:02
for just to throw a bottle of alcohol
00:19:03:02 - 00:19:03:15
at someone.
00:19:03:15 - 00:19:05:04
People these days,
00:19:05:04 - 00:19:06:05
when you
00:19:06:05 - 00:19:07:22
are drinking something, it kind of
00:19:07:22 - 00:19:09:22
is a representation of who you are.
00:19:09:23 - 00:19:11:24
Like if you're drinking Crown,
00:19:11:24 - 00:19:13:17
that says something about you different.
00:19:13:17 - 00:19:15:17
Than if you're drinking Jack Daniels
00:19:15:17 - 00:19:18:19
or if you're drinking, you know, Angel's
00:19:18:19 - 00:19:20:20
Envy, Bourbon or whatever,
00:19:20:20 - 00:19:22:08
all these things
00:19:22:08 - 00:19:24:17
in some respects, they give a person
00:19:25:00 - 00:19:27:04
some clues about who you may be. Right.
00:19:27:06 - 00:19:28:19
And that's that brand story. Yeah. So
00:19:29:18 - 00:19:30:15
that that holds
00:19:30:15 - 00:19:32:04
true, whether it's cannabis,
00:19:32:04 - 00:19:34:13
whether it's our spirits, whether it's.
00:19:34:13 - 00:19:35:08
Whether it's
00:19:35:08 - 00:19:37:12
whether it's anything, whether it's like,
00:19:38:06 - 00:19:39:00
I'll tell you, the drink
00:19:39:00 - 00:19:40:13
that stands out to me very quickly
00:19:40:13 - 00:19:41:05
tells a story
00:19:41:05 - 00:19:42:10
I still remember
00:19:42:10 - 00:19:45:02
I don't know, it probably says that about me,
00:19:45:02 - 00:19:46:15
Dos Equis
00:19:46:15 - 00:19:47:03
I remember that
00:19:47:03 - 00:19:49:22
the most interesting that I loved that.
00:19:50:03 - 00:19:51:10
Oh, the most interesting man
00:19:51:10 - 00:19:52:03
in the world.
00:19:52:03 - 00:19:54:07
Those were such great campaigns
00:19:54:10 - 00:19:55:18
I didn't even like beer.
00:19:55:18 - 00:19:59:00
I just said, I might just order one just to show
00:19:59:00 - 00:19:59:20
exactly
00:19:59:20 - 00:20:01:16
Says it like it
00:20:01:16 - 00:20:03:12
led something for you, right?
00:20:03:12 - 00:20:04:17
Like it
00:20:04:17 - 00:20:05:18
said something about who
00:20:05:18 - 00:20:06:22
you were as a person
00:20:06:22 - 00:20:08:17
when you and everyone else
00:20:08:17 - 00:20:09:15
did that,
00:20:09:15 - 00:20:10:20
everyone else at the bar
00:20:10:20 - 00:20:12:09
might have been pouring a corona.
00:20:12:09 - 00:20:12:21
You're like,
00:20:12:21 - 00:20:14:11
I'll take a Dos Equis you know?
00:20:14:11 - 00:20:15:17
And people look at you
00:20:15:17 - 00:20:16:19
kind of like, Oh, okay,
00:20:16:19 - 00:20:17:19
this guy's different.
00:20:17:19 - 00:20:19:10
And so
00:20:19:10 - 00:20:20:20
that still holds true, right,
00:20:20:20 - 00:20:21:04
when you're
00:20:21:04 - 00:20:23:11
trying to build a spirits brand,
00:20:23:11 - 00:20:24:10
especially because
00:20:24:10 - 00:20:27:16
the occasion and the place that spirits
00:20:27:16 - 00:20:28:16
and cannabis
00:20:28:16 - 00:20:30:12
ultimately hold in life,
00:20:30:12 - 00:20:31:04
there really was.
00:20:31:04 - 00:20:32:03
What's the brand story of MXXN
00:20:32:03 - 00:20:33:16
then I guess that that leads me to that.
00:20:33:16 - 00:20:35:01
And then finish the rest of the other two points.
00:20:35:01 - 00:20:35:23
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:20:35:23 - 00:20:40:16
And so MXXN was really about as I was
00:20:42:07 - 00:20:44:08
developing it, like I was trying to
00:20:45:19 - 00:20:48:00
like quantify like what it made
00:20:48:01 - 00:20:49:02
you feel like
00:20:49:02 - 00:20:50:18
and one night, you know,
00:20:50:18 - 00:20:53:10
I twas tasting one of the
00:20:53:13 - 00:20:55:15
millions of prototypes we came up with
00:20:55:15 - 00:20:56:05
and it was like
00:20:56:05 - 00:20:57:15
an exceptionally good one.
00:20:57:15 - 00:20:58:11
And it was a night
00:20:58:11 - 00:20:59:17
where it was a full moon,
00:20:59:17 - 00:21:01:20
and the moon was kind of glowing to me
00:21:01:20 - 00:21:02:21
on my back porch.
00:21:02:21 - 00:21:04:05
And I was like, Wow, it's like it
00:21:04:05 - 00:21:05:17
kind of feels like a glow.
00:21:05:17 - 00:21:06:07
And that's
00:21:06:07 - 00:21:10:03
where the whole inspiration for MXXN came from.
00:21:10:03 - 00:21:11:05
It was just a moment
00:21:11:05 - 00:21:12:07
I had with it that,
00:21:12:07 - 00:21:14:24
As I started to think about it
00:21:14:24 - 00:21:16:22
it said so many things about what
00:21:16:22 - 00:21:18:00
the product is, right?
00:21:18:00 - 00:21:20:01
It's kind of like, you know,
00:21:20:19 - 00:21:23:12
extraterrestrial experience, right?
00:21:23:14 - 00:21:25:06
It's something familiar
00:21:25:06 - 00:21:27:20
but new in the sense of it's a cocktail,
00:21:27:20 - 00:21:28:23
but it takes me to a
00:21:28:23 - 00:21:30:01
much different place.
00:21:31:05 - 00:21:32:04
And I remember the first
00:21:32:04 - 00:21:33:16
time we had
00:21:33:16 - 00:21:36:08
an event where we served exclusively MXXN
00:21:36:17 - 00:21:39:01
and it was just a bunch of people
00:21:39:01 - 00:21:41:21
standing around smiling and laughing.
00:21:41:21 - 00:21:42:13
And I was just like,
00:21:42:13 - 00:21:44:19
Wow, this is a really cool experience
00:21:44:19 - 00:21:45:04
because, you know,
00:21:45:04 - 00:21:46:09
and sometimes you're in an environment
00:21:46:09 - 00:21:47:05
where
00:21:47:11 - 00:21:48:13
there's all
00:21:48:13 - 00:21:50:23
sorts of responses to alcohol, right?
00:21:50:23 - 00:21:55:01
There's the sloppy drunk there is the angry
00:21:55:16 - 00:21:58:01
belligerent, there's the, you know,
00:21:58:01 - 00:21:59:01
you've got all ranges
00:21:59:01 - 00:22:01:08
I've seen them all. Yes. Right.
00:22:01:08 - 00:22:04:11
So you have that kind of like consistent
00:22:04:11 - 00:22:06:02
experience of like
00:22:06:02 - 00:22:08:08
people were just smiling
00:22:08:11 - 00:22:09:23
and just relaxed.
00:22:09:23 - 00:22:12:00
And it was just a very a
00:22:12:00 - 00:22:14:05
just a very warm environment that that
00:22:15:01 - 00:22:16:20
doubled down on the MXXN name for me.
00:22:16:20 - 00:22:17:16
And then the
00:22:17:16 - 00:22:18:21
you know what people ask, well,
00:22:18:21 - 00:22:21:01
why isn't it spelled with O's?
00:22:21:01 - 00:22:22:07
And you
00:22:22:07 - 00:22:23:23
you actually nailed a point earlier
00:22:23:23 - 00:22:25:20
as to why it's Xs.
00:22:25:20 - 00:22:27:24
And it's really because it's kind of a
00:22:27:24 - 00:22:30:12
an homage to, you know, the fact that
00:22:30:12 - 00:22:33:10
it is still actually federally illegal.
00:22:33:12 - 00:22:34:00
Right.
00:22:34:09 - 00:22:36:17
It's kind of like this prohibited.
00:22:36:17 - 00:22:38:14
You know, thing. And so
00:22:40:01 - 00:22:40:08
that's
00:22:40:08 - 00:22:41:06
really where
00:22:41:06 - 00:22:43:12
the inspiration from the name came from.
00:22:43:12 - 00:22:44:10
And we just took it
00:22:44:10 - 00:22:45:02
and ran with it
00:22:45:02 - 00:22:46:15
and it just has so many extensions
00:22:46:15 - 00:22:48:15
and applications for
00:22:48:15 - 00:22:51:02
From how it makes you feel too, you know,
00:22:51:02 - 00:22:52:03
where its place
00:22:52:03 - 00:22:54:07
is among other beverage brands
00:22:54:07 - 00:22:58:08
and we just ran with it. Right
00:22:58:08 - 00:22:59:05
So let's talk about the
00:22:59:05 - 00:23:01:00
the challenges with regulations
00:23:01:00 - 00:23:03:03
and how you go about doing this
00:23:03:03 - 00:23:04:19
and the state by state like so
00:23:04:19 - 00:23:06:01
how would this work?
00:23:06:01 - 00:23:08:04
Rob wants to try a drink.
00:23:08:21 - 00:23:10:10
How would I be able to do that.
00:23:10:10 - 00:23:12:21
How would my customers be able to
00:23:12:21 - 00:23:13:18
work with. Yeah.
00:23:13:18 - 00:23:15:19
So it's going to be kind of a,
00:23:15:19 - 00:23:16:15
you know, a
00:23:16:15 - 00:23:19:09
game of patience, like I said earlier.
00:23:19:09 - 00:23:19:15
Right.
00:23:19:15 - 00:23:21:06
In the sense that
00:23:21:06 - 00:23:22:24
when you started typical business
00:23:22:24 - 00:23:24:15
in the United States,
00:23:24:15 - 00:23:26:00
once you start at one place,
00:23:26:00 - 00:23:28:24
it started for the rest of the country.
00:23:28:24 - 00:23:31:01
Whereas in cannabis, right,
00:23:31:03 - 00:23:32:08
you're starting a business.
00:23:32:08 - 00:23:33:14
And effectively
00:23:33:14 - 00:23:35:22
each time you start this business,
00:23:35:22 - 00:23:37:24
you have to start a new one in each state
00:23:37:24 - 00:23:41:03
because the you know, from
00:23:41:05 - 00:23:43:00
the packaging regulations
00:23:43:00 - 00:23:44:23
to the amount of cannabis
00:23:44:23 - 00:23:47:05
you can have in a package, to
00:23:47:24 - 00:23:49:11
other things that come into play
00:23:49:11 - 00:23:50:19
that just are different
00:23:50:19 - 00:23:52:08
from state to state
00:23:52:08 - 00:23:54:07
and they're changing all the time.
00:23:54:07 - 00:23:57:01
And so so you're in California.
00:23:57:01 - 00:23:58:01
We're in California.
00:23:58:01 - 00:23:59:05
We're in talks
00:23:59:05 - 00:24:01:12
to move into two additional states.
00:24:01:12 - 00:24:02:02
Okay.
00:24:02:07 - 00:24:04:00
And, you know, obviously,
00:24:04:00 - 00:24:05:14
where we're aiming right now
00:24:05:14 - 00:24:06:21
is the 19
00:24:06:21 - 00:24:09:07
or so recreational states, right.
00:24:09:08 - 00:24:10:24
That are online now.
00:24:10:24 - 00:24:12:06
It's going to be our first target.
00:24:13:05 - 00:24:13:15
Who are
00:24:13:15 - 00:24:14:03
like you don't have to
00:24:14:03 - 00:24:16:12
say all they are but there are is
00:24:16:12 - 00:24:17:14
Miami is not recreational
00:24:17:14 - 00:24:18:08
is Miami recreational?
00:24:18:08 - 00:24:19:11
as a Florida recreational.
00:24:19:11 - 00:24:21:24
Florida is not not yet.
00:24:21:24 - 00:24:22:16
Miami would
00:24:22:16 - 00:24:24:13
be a great target for you
00:24:24:13 - 00:24:25:10
You would think. Right?
00:24:25:10 - 00:24:26:23
Yeah. Miami would kill it.
00:24:26:23 - 00:24:28:03
But okay.
00:24:28:03 - 00:24:30:15
So I assume New York is. New York is.
00:24:30:15 - 00:24:32:10
But they're still coming online, right?
00:24:32:10 - 00:24:34:05
They're still getting all of their ducks
00:24:34:05 - 00:24:36:05
in a row like most of the Northeast
00:24:36:05 - 00:24:37:06
corridor is now.
00:24:37:06 - 00:24:39:17
So Connecticut is
00:24:39:23 - 00:24:42:07
I think Rhode Island recently did.
00:24:42:15 - 00:24:45:04
Massachusetts is a big market
00:24:45:04 - 00:24:45:22
on the East Coast.
00:24:45:22 - 00:24:49:03
Jersey is now rec
00:24:49:03 - 00:24:51:01
And then you move a
00:24:51:01 - 00:24:53:00
Well Jersey is one
00:24:53:00 - 00:24:54:08
you move west
00:24:54:08 - 00:24:55:00
and then you got
00:24:55:00 - 00:24:56:16
there's some pockets in the Midwest.
00:24:56:16 - 00:24:59:18
So Illinois and Michigan, you move
00:24:59:18 - 00:25:00:16
further west,
00:25:00:16 - 00:25:02:21
you got Colorado, Nevada,
00:25:03:05 - 00:25:06:04
Arizona, obviously the whole western
00:25:06:10 - 00:25:08:03
Seaboard with California,
00:25:08:03 - 00:25:09:14
Oregon and Washington state.
00:25:09:14 - 00:25:11:06
And so that's really,
00:25:11:06 - 00:25:13:06
you know, for all intents and New Mexico
00:25:13:06 - 00:25:14:08
just came online.
00:25:14:08 - 00:25:16:15
That's really our our map right now.
00:25:16:16 - 00:25:17:00
Right.
00:25:18:02 - 00:25:18:22
And so for folks
00:25:18:22 - 00:25:19:06
who aren't
00:25:19:06 - 00:25:21:22
in those states, unfortunately,
00:25:21:22 - 00:25:22:10
there's going to be
00:25:22:10 - 00:25:23:09
a little bit of a wait
00:25:23:09 - 00:25:24:07
unless you travel
00:25:24:07 - 00:25:25:07
into one of those states
00:25:25:07 - 00:25:26:17
and then you can, you know,
00:25:26:17 - 00:25:27:17
you'll be able to find it.
00:25:27:17 - 00:25:29:18
But, yes, it's a it's a
00:25:29:18 - 00:25:32:19
the regulations make this, you know,
00:25:33:15 - 00:25:35:14
like exponentially tougher than starting
00:25:35:14 - 00:25:36:22
your regular business, right?
00:25:36:22 - 00:25:39:03
Because you're building a new business
00:25:39:03 - 00:25:41:23
in every single market you go to.
00:25:41:23 - 00:25:43:09
And I imagine you're
00:25:43:09 - 00:25:44:09
the digital media space.
00:25:44:09 - 00:25:44:23
Are there
00:25:44:23 - 00:25:46:15
are there barriers for digital media
00:25:46:15 - 00:25:47:17
marketing as well too?
00:25:47:17 - 00:25:49:03
Yeah, I imagine
00:25:49:03 - 00:25:49:24
they probably make it
00:25:49:24 - 00:25:51:07
harder to do that too.
00:25:51:07 - 00:25:52:09
Yeah, much harder.
00:25:52:09 - 00:25:55:03
And we have a little bit of a
00:25:55:08 - 00:25:56:00
in there
00:25:56:00 - 00:25:56:14
in the sense
00:25:56:14 - 00:25:59:00
that like our vessel is the cocktail
00:25:59:07 - 00:26:00:10
and so
00:26:00:10 - 00:26:01:12
we can talk about
00:26:01:12 - 00:26:03:04
other worldly cocktails
00:26:03:04 - 00:26:05:05
without really talking about cannabis.
00:26:05:05 - 00:26:07:10
And you know, upon further digging
00:26:07:10 - 00:26:08:11
you'll find out
00:26:08:11 - 00:26:09:08
it's, you know,
00:26:09:08 - 00:26:11:14
THC or cannabis infused, right?
00:26:11:22 - 00:26:14:14
But if you're a flower brand or a vape
00:26:14:14 - 00:26:16:18
brand, it's really no way to hide that.
00:26:16:18 - 00:26:19:23
So what you can do is super limited.
00:26:19:23 - 00:26:23:17
So it's not workarounds, but it is tough.
00:26:23:17 - 00:26:24:11
So what
00:26:24:11 - 00:26:26:21
does success in five years look like?
00:26:26:21 - 00:26:28:21
How do you hope to transform
00:26:28:21 - 00:26:29:15
the spirit industry?
00:26:29:15 - 00:26:30:06
What does that look like
00:26:30:06 - 00:26:31:06
when you've done that?
00:26:31:06 - 00:26:31:22
Yeah, look,
00:26:31:22 - 00:26:32:18
I say that
00:26:32:18 - 00:26:33:17
everyone I talk to,
00:26:33:17 - 00:26:35:24
I'm not here to replace alcohol.
00:26:36:02 - 00:26:39:16
I'm here to give folks another option
00:26:39:17 - 00:26:41:06
as it relates to their,
00:26:41:06 - 00:26:42:23
you know, their home bar cart.
00:26:42:23 - 00:26:45:01
Like, I feel this deserves a place
00:26:45:16 - 00:26:47:06
amongst every bar cart
00:26:47:06 - 00:26:50:03
and it's as an option to enjoy
00:26:50:10 - 00:26:51:11
when you're feeling
00:26:51:11 - 00:26:53:11
like a zig or a zag from alcohol.
00:26:53:12 - 00:26:54:14
Not to mention
00:26:54:14 - 00:26:55:24
obviously, we want to be an option
00:26:55:24 - 00:26:58:09
for those who have completely sworn off alcohol
00:26:58:09 - 00:26:59:18
and still want to have
00:26:59:18 - 00:27:01:03
that release occasion
00:27:01:03 - 00:27:03:23
and are okay with cannabis.
00:27:03:23 - 00:27:06:02
So five years from now, it's
00:27:06:05 - 00:27:08:06
a lot is going to depend upon
00:27:08:06 - 00:27:09:02
how much further
00:27:09:02 - 00:27:10:09
we make it from,
00:27:10:09 - 00:27:11:06
you know, legal
00:27:11:06 - 00:27:13:06
and in a regulatory sense.
00:27:13:06 - 00:27:16:08
Yeah, obviously our dream and our hope is
00:27:16:08 - 00:27:19:01
that we can be next to spirits
00:27:19:11 - 00:27:21:02
products wherever they're sold,
00:27:21:02 - 00:27:21:24
you know, whether it be in
00:27:21:24 - 00:27:23:10
a bar, whether it be in a
00:27:25:01 - 00:27:26:12
liquor store or what have you.
00:27:26:12 - 00:27:28:19
You know, I think that is the aim.
00:27:28:22 - 00:27:30:23
Are we we're not banking on that. Right.
00:27:30:23 - 00:27:32:24
Just based on how things have gone.
00:27:32:24 - 00:27:34:14
But I think we,
00:27:34:14 - 00:27:36:02
you know, five years from now,
00:27:36:02 - 00:27:38:15
if we're like kind of a mainstay on
00:27:39:08 - 00:27:40:04
a fair
00:27:40:04 - 00:27:40:21
amount of bar
00:27:40:21 - 00:27:43:13
carts, that'll be success for us.
00:27:43:13 - 00:27:43:23
All right.
00:27:43:23 - 00:27:45:19
Couple of quick, rapid fire questions,
00:27:45:19 - 00:27:46:14
rapid fire question
00:27:46:14 - 00:27:47:15
You could just finish this.
00:27:47:15 - 00:27:48:07
Finish the sentence
00:27:48:07 - 00:27:51:16
so the future of spirits in America is.
00:27:53:06 - 00:27:54:02
It's going to be here.
00:27:54:02 - 00:27:55:02
It's not going anywhere.
00:27:55:02 - 00:27:56:02
It's been here forever.
00:27:56:02 - 00:27:57:14
It's going to stay.
00:27:57:14 - 00:27:59:07
I think it's just evolving.
00:27:59:07 - 00:28:01:23
So what do people from the outside
00:28:03:05 - 00:28:04:22
get most get wrong?
00:28:04:22 - 00:28:07:22
Most often when it comes to cannabis.
00:28:07:22 - 00:28:10:13
I think the stigmatism that still exists,
00:28:10:17 - 00:28:11:00
you know,
00:28:11:00 - 00:28:13:17
from the war on drugs and you know,
00:28:13:20 - 00:28:15:22
there is no hiding from the fact
00:28:15:23 - 00:28:17:04
that there's plenty of people
00:28:17:04 - 00:28:17:21
that look like
00:28:17:21 - 00:28:18:15
you and I
00:28:18:15 - 00:28:20:05
who are definitely behind bars
00:28:20:05 - 00:28:22:01
for low level,
00:28:22:01 - 00:28:23:22
you know, marijuana offenses.
00:28:23:22 - 00:28:24:21
Absolutely.
00:28:24:21 - 00:28:25:04
You know,
00:28:25:04 - 00:28:26:19
something that is still
00:28:26:19 - 00:28:28:11
hugely problematic and.
00:28:28:11 - 00:28:29:21
And they still can't profit from
00:28:29:21 - 00:28:30:17
they're not the ones being able
00:28:30:17 - 00:28:31:22
to profit off of this.
00:28:31:22 - 00:28:34:22
And for the most part, yeah, that's it.
00:28:34:23 - 00:28:37:12
Yeah, it's extremely problematic.
00:28:37:12 - 00:28:39:00
And you and I should just point out
00:28:39:00 - 00:28:40:17
that I believe the company
00:28:40:17 - 00:28:41:13
MXXN is going to give
00:28:41:13 - 00:28:43:10
some portions back to,
00:28:43:10 - 00:28:45:13
you know, those who have been affected by
00:28:47:03 - 00:28:48:18
by these incarcerations.
00:28:48:18 - 00:28:49:19
Talk a little bit about that.
00:28:49:19 - 00:28:51:08
We do a lot of important work there.
00:28:51:08 - 00:28:51:17
Yeah.
00:28:51:17 - 00:28:53:01
So that's very central
00:28:53:01 - 00:28:54:23
to our whole mission in this.
00:28:54:23 - 00:28:56:13
And, you know, it's it's part
00:28:56:13 - 00:28:58:11
advocacy, right?
00:28:58:11 - 00:29:00:16
Supporting organizations that do
00:29:01:04 - 00:29:02:24
that work, you know, of
00:29:02:24 - 00:29:04:21
getting records expunged
00:29:04:21 - 00:29:06:12
and the lobbying work
00:29:06:12 - 00:29:09:03
it's going to require to change that whole
00:29:10:19 - 00:29:12:02
situation.
00:29:12:02 - 00:29:16:05
But it also is us being much more
00:29:17:14 - 00:29:20:01
watchful of our own supply chain
00:29:20:01 - 00:29:21:20
and who we give opportunities
00:29:21:20 - 00:29:24:21
to from an employment standpoint
00:29:24:21 - 00:29:26:22
and creating opportunities for,
00:29:26:22 - 00:29:28:22
you know, folks who have been affected,
00:29:28:22 - 00:29:29:18
but family members
00:29:29:18 - 00:29:30:21
have been affected by this.
00:29:30:21 - 00:29:32:09
Folks of color. Right.
00:29:32:09 - 00:29:35:11
Is really bringing us into the fold
00:29:35:12 - 00:29:36:08
into an industry
00:29:36:08 - 00:29:38:17
which has a chance to do it differently.
00:29:38:17 - 00:29:39:20
But unfortunately,
00:29:39:20 - 00:29:41:05
it's starting to shape up
00:29:41:05 - 00:29:42:18
and look like just like start.
00:29:42:18 - 00:29:43:20
To look like everything else.
00:29:43:20 - 00:29:45:13
In some ways, the areas are harder.
00:29:45:13 - 00:29:47:06
I have had some involvement
00:29:47:06 - 00:29:49:02
in some of these projects
00:29:49:02 - 00:29:49:19
through investment
00:29:49:19 - 00:29:51:02
are just looking at opportunity for
00:29:51:02 - 00:29:52:24
and I can tell you the barriers
00:29:52:24 - 00:29:53:21
they make them even
00:29:53:21 - 00:29:56:04
higher than normal barriers for business.
00:29:56:09 - 00:29:56:21
Yeah.
00:29:57:13 - 00:29:59:13
Which is, which is challenging.
00:29:59:13 - 00:29:59:22
And so
00:30:00:21 - 00:30:01:04
for all
00:30:01:04 - 00:30:02:21
the talk about inclusion,
00:30:02:21 - 00:30:04:10
it's been quite the opposite.
00:30:04:10 - 00:30:05:18
I've seen that play out in the space
00:30:05:18 - 00:30:08:05
I'm in with Web3 as well. So I can yeah.
00:30:08:05 - 00:30:09:17
I mean, there's a lot of talk about this,
00:30:09:17 - 00:30:11:10
but I tell people all the time,
00:30:11:10 - 00:30:12:09
no one is going to give us
00:30:12:09 - 00:30:13:10
diversity, inclusion,
00:30:13:10 - 00:30:13:22
nobody
00:30:13:22 - 00:30:16:02
we have to build for a period
00:30:16:02 - 00:30:17:19
in a discussion.
00:30:17:19 - 00:30:18:18
It's the only way we're going to get it
00:30:18:18 - 00:30:20:11
is that we provide the platform.
00:30:20:11 - 00:30:21:23
We provide the businesses,
00:30:21:23 - 00:30:23:07
we provide the strategies,
00:30:23:07 - 00:30:26:03
and we actually implement them
00:30:26:03 - 00:30:26:20
because they're not.
00:30:26:20 - 00:30:28:01
No one's going to do it
00:30:28:01 - 00:30:29:18
because it's the right thing to do.
00:30:29:18 - 00:30:30:05
They're going to
00:30:30:05 - 00:30:30:22
they're going to do it
00:30:30:22 - 00:30:33:01
because it's the profitable thing to do.
00:30:33:01 - 00:30:34:02
And that's what we have to do
00:30:34:02 - 00:30:35:09
because it is a profitable thing to do,
00:30:35:09 - 00:30:36:09
but we have to be the ones
00:30:36:09 - 00:30:37:18
creating the platform.
00:30:37:18 - 00:30:38:12
Otherwise we're not going
00:30:38:12 - 00:30:39:06
to be able to leverage it.
00:30:40:13 - 00:30:41:24
And that is
00:30:41:24 - 00:30:43:10
that is where we come from,
00:30:43:10 - 00:30:44:06
you know, in the sense of
00:30:44:06 - 00:30:46:03
like we're trying to be a platform
00:30:46:03 - 00:30:47:18
for the advocacy
00:30:47:18 - 00:30:48:06
part of it,
00:30:48:06 - 00:30:51:20
as well as the systemic disruption of
00:30:52:04 - 00:30:54:20
where opportunity is for people of our,
00:30:54:23 - 00:30:56:12
of our ilk. Right.
00:30:56:12 - 00:30:58:19
Like I want to make sure we,
00:30:58:19 - 00:31:01:11
you know, any position that we have open.
00:31:01:14 - 00:31:03:08
Like if I haven't seen
00:31:03:08 - 00:31:05:22
multiple candidates of color,
00:31:06:08 - 00:31:09:17
you know, or diversity, like don't even
00:31:09:20 - 00:31:10:21
don't even bring it to me
00:31:10:21 - 00:31:12:03
until I see that
00:31:12:03 - 00:31:14:15
we've exhausted every single path we can.
00:31:14:17 - 00:31:15:00
Right.
00:31:15:00 - 00:31:15:15
To provide
00:31:15:15 - 00:31:17:22
opportunity to those who are getting
00:31:17:22 - 00:31:19:23
stiffed, are stiff armed elsewhere.
00:31:19:23 - 00:31:22:13
So that's hugely important to us.
00:31:22:13 - 00:31:24:17
So yeah, I mean, that, that without that,
00:31:25:08 - 00:31:26:00
that to me
00:31:26:00 - 00:31:28:10
was like the biggest part of doing this
00:31:29:07 - 00:31:31:16
was the opportunity to provide
00:31:31:16 - 00:31:33:16
more opportunities to the folks
00:31:33:16 - 00:31:35:07
that look like, like you and I.
00:31:35:07 - 00:31:36:10
So yeah.
00:31:37:02 - 00:31:38:11
Darnell Smith
00:31:38:11 - 00:31:40:01
with MXXN and Mojo Ventures.
00:31:40:01 - 00:31:41:06
We're going to be looking
00:31:41:06 - 00:31:42:03
I'm looking for my content
00:31:42:03 - 00:31:43:05
we're going to do some work to get it.
00:31:43:05 - 00:31:44:23
So appreciate having you on
00:31:44:23 - 00:31:45:10
and we'll
00:31:45:10 - 00:31:47:00
make sure everybody can see the link.
00:31:47:00 - 00:31:47:19
Where to find out
00:31:47:19 - 00:31:49:04
more information about you, what events
00:31:49:04 - 00:31:50:00
you may have coming up.
00:31:50:00 - 00:31:51:06
We look forward to hearing